Bomb sway brace



Oct. 24, 1950 RUPPERT 2,526,903

BOMB SWAY BRACE Filed June 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Gustave J. RuppertINVENTOR.

' MTENT ATTORNEY Oct. 24, 1950 G. J. RUPPERT BOMB SWAY BRACE Filed June16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 X.) 37 v 3 4o Gustave J. Rupperi INVENTOR.

ATENT ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 2 950 UNITED STATES OFFICE Gustave J.Ruppert, Los AngelesgCalif assignor to North American Aviation, Inc.

Application June 16, 1943, Serial ivd'sazsz Claims. 1 7

The present invention relates enerally to aircraft ordnance and moreparticularly to improvements in retractable sway braces for use withaircraft-carried bombs and the like.

In the suspension of bombs and similar disposable loads from aircraft,it is desirable to provide suitable chocks or sway braces to steady thebombs while they are being carried in flight to the point at which theyare released. Numerous sway brace means have heretofore been proposedand used but most have met with objections from various standpoints inrespect to their structure, arrangement, servicing or faulty-operation.Certain of these prior installations were retractable but were of arotary type which did not permit of ready or extensive adjustment of thebrace nor were the bombs capable of convenient installation. The presentinvention is directed to an improved chock or sway braceconstruction andarrangement which incorporates the desirable features not fullyheretofore attained, is relatively simple in construction whileeflicient and foolproof in its operation.

The present invention embodies a plurality of adjustable resilientlybiased brace elements interconnected to each other and having means bywhich the resilient biasing of the braces is cocked automatically by theloading or attachment of the bomb and the braces are automaticallyretracted upon release of the bomb without requiring the attention ofthe bombardier or other operator. This improved arrangement permits thecomplete retraction of the sway braces as soon as they are no longerrequired such that their exposure to the airstream and the drag causedthereby is reduced to a minimum. In the present arrangement the bracesare rectilinearly movable and permit more rapid and convenient loadingof the bombs while accommodating a much wider range of bomb sizes. Itis, accordingly, a major object of the presen invention to provide asway brace or chock installation for a bomb rackor suspension'unit inwhich the sway brace is automatically and fully retractable as soon asthe bomb or otherload is released. It is a further object of the presentinvention to provide an installation which forms an integral part of thearmament equipment as contrasted with prior yoke type sway braces andother temporarily installed auxiliary means which have been employed inthe past.

It is a further object to provide an improved installation of thepresent type which is automatically self-cocking and which is notobjectionable from the aerodynamic standpoint in that the ziinpro'vedsway brace does not remain in'an exposed position after the bombs havebeen released.- -A further objectresides in the 'provision of swaybraces which form an integral part of the installation and do notrequire"jettisoning or the additional of complicated additionalmechanism or 'ele'ctrical circuits. A further ob ject resides in abraceunit which is movable in a rectilinear directionand in an improvedarrange ment' of the mechanismcomprising the auto matically-retractableassembly.

Otherobjects-and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the 'art after" reading the presentdescription when' studied in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsforming apart hereof, in which: w

"Fig. l shows the forward portion of an airplane'wing having a bomb rackinstallation to which an improved form of the present sway bracemechanism been applied;

Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation taken along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1; anda Fig. ,3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of one of the swaybraces shown in Figs. 1 and 2; with the latching mechanism located forpurposesof clarification.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 5 represents the forwardportion of an airplane wingrhaving a-leading edge spar 6 and havingsuspended therefrom a bomb rack 1 of conven tional form. A bombisindicated by the numeral 8; having'its suspension eyes 9 engaged by thereleasable hook elements In of the bomb'rack' mechanism: 1; For purposesof installing the.

improved retractable sway brace mechanism, the

wing 5 is provided'with additional internal structure inthe form of thespanwise channels 6a, 512,?

6d and 6e, whichare'spaced ba'ck-to-back in for ward" and rear "pairswith similar interco'stal channel members 5 extending between thesepairs in a chordwise direction adjacent the lower surface of the wing. 1The cliordwise channels-6c are more widelyspaced in the spanwisedirection than the pairs of forward and rear channels are spaced''chordwise andthe-chan'nels 6c are dis--- pbsdwiththeirbacks or webportions facing outwardly; Between the channels 60 is a further pairof'centrally disposed and more closely spaced channels 6 f which-extendfrom the upper to the lower surfac'eof the wing and are disposedbackto-back withgtheir flanges extendin outwardly.

A 's' waybrace latch actuating arm I l, pivotally mounted at. lz, providesfameans to conditiontlie' latchingmechanism and to prepare theretract ing mechanism for the sway braces. When the arm II is movedforwardly to the position indicated at IIA, the interconnecting link I3moves the lever I4 placing the spring I5 under tension. A lever I8 ismounted on the shaft I! to which the lever I4 is also attached. Rotationof the spanwise shaft I! and the lever I6 will serve to compress thespring I8, mounted on the rod I9, and disposed between the flange a andthe collar 2I. The rod I9 is pivotally connected to the upper terminalof the lever I6 and at its opposite end the rod I9 slidably engages theupturned flange 28a of the forward latch plate element 20, beingprovided with a terminal collar, as shown in Fig. 3, which will not passthrough the opening in the flange 20a.

The shaft I! is journalled for rotation within the bearing blocks IIawhich are supported upon the top flanges of the intercostal channels 60and the spring extended relationship of the rod I9 and the flange 20a ofthe latchplate 20 provides a lost-motion means, or provision foroverriding movement of the rod I 9 with respect to the flange 20a, thusproviding automatic means for accommodating different cooked orbomb-contacting positions of, the arm II due to various size bombs. Twosuch arms I3 extend upwardly from the shaft I! to accommodate twosimilar latch units 28 which form the forward pair of sway brace unitswhich are. inclined such thatthe axes of the braces converge downwardlyin the region of the bomb 8, as shown in Fig. 2.

A pair of shorter arms 22 are also fixedly attached to the shaft I! andextend downwardly therefrom, being pivotally'connected to; therearwardly extending interconnecting links 23. The latter are in turnpivotally connected to themtermediate portion of the arms24 which arepivotally mounted at their lower terminals at the pivot 25 to the wingstructure. The upper terminal of each arm 24 is pivotally connected to arod element 26 provided with a co-axial spring 21 similar to theabovementioned rodsand springs I8 and I9. The latter pair of rods Z-Gareslidably associated with the rear latch.plateelements 28,

being slidable through the upturned flange 2.8a thereof whereuponrearwardi movement of the rod 26 and its attached collar 29 causescompression of the spring 21 against .theflange 28a. The

rod 25 is prevented by an enlargedterminal portion from passing throughthe opening in the flange 2811 when the rod is moved in the oppositedirection. The rear pair oflatch plates 28 are similarly outwardlyinclined to accommodate the angle at which the rear sway braces are alsoinclined.

The latch plate elements 2Ilare-slidable within the blocks or capassemblies 30 which-are='threadedly mounted upon theupper ends of thesupporting base elements 32. The latter are disposed between the forwardpair of channel members 6a and 6b to which they are fastened by thebolts 32a, the assemblies 30-32 being inclined along the axesof'theforward sway brace posts 34. A similar pair of blocksorcapelements 3| are threadedly attached to theupper terminals of thesupporting base elements 33, which are similarly attached to-the rearchannels 6d and 66 by the bolts 33a. These rear units '3I--32 are alsosimilarly inclined to converge downwardly along the axes of the rear.sway-brace posts 35.

Fig. 3 which is an enlargedsectional view of the forward lefthand swaybrace unit 34, as shown inthe left side of the View in Fig. 2, with theexception that the latch plate element.20 has. been rotated through tothe left side of Fig. 3 for convenience in showing its latchingrelationship. The sway brace post 34 is slidably mounted within thesupport base 32 and is shown in this figure in its extended position inwhich it engages the outer surface of the casing of the bomb 8. Theupper end of the tubular post 34 is engaged by the inner end 20b of thelatch plate 20 which slidably operates within a slot in the cap 30. Theabovementioned compression spring I8 tends to urge the latch plate 20 atall times into its retaining position with respect to the post member34.

A retracting spring 3! is secured to the upper end of a threaded rod 38which is adjustably positioned in the lower end of a post 34 and ismaintained in its adjusted position by a suitable lock nut or similardevice. The upper end of the retaining spring 31 is attached to thefitting 6g which is fixedly attached to the inside of the upper surfaceof the wing, 5.. A chain or other retaining means 40 is also attached tothe fitting 69 at its upper terminal, and, at its lower end is attachedto the threaded, member 38- to'limit the downwardly extended movement ofthe sway brace post 34 and. prevent its dropping clear through thpporting, or; guide base element 32.

The lower end of thethreaded rod 38 is provided with a semi-sphericalball terminal 3811 which engages a similar semi-spherical or socketspace on the inside of the; universal pad element 39, which contactsthe;.casing, of the bomb. The semi-circular ball and; socket contactprovided between the elements, 38 and 39ipermitsuthe ready adjustment ofthe relative relationship. such that the pad element 39 may besaidto bemounted in a semi-universal manner. .The pad element 39 is retained onthe terminal, 381% by means of i a threaded lock nut or cap 39a. Asindicated in the construction lines inuthis figure, the pad element 39is retracted (when thelatch 20 is withdrawn and the spring 31retractsthe post 34 and its threaded rod terminal 38) such that it issubstantially flush with the undersurfa'ceofthe wing 5, to the positionat 39A.

As the bomb 8 is hoisted into the position shown in Fig. 1, the latchactuating. arm H is moved forwardly into the positionindicated'by'thelconstruction lines IIA. This1servesto ready-orconditionthe latching mechanismby-rearward'pull on the link I3 and' theconcurrentcounterclock wise movement of the shaft I lrurging the latches20 and 28 toward their respectiveksway brace posts 34 and 35. Theconditioningior'readying of the mechanism is maintained by contactxofthe outer terminal of the arm II- with the casing of the bomb 8 as it isplaced inaits'position-upon the bomb rack hooks I0;. -When the' bomb'isin position and is supported on the-hooks. of thesbomb rack, theindividual" swaycbrace post:units-tmay' be drawn down from theirretractedipositions shown in Figs. '1 and 2, to their:fully*extendedpositions in which they will-be retained: by engagement of the latchplates 20 and 28'w'itli the-upper-iends of the respective posts 3.4'and35;as shown-indetail in Fig. 3. Each'of thesway brac'e" posts-may thenbe individually adjusted to it's required length for proper engagement:ofthe; respective pad with the bombcasez -When the-bombis re* leased,the latch actuating-aria I-I is-rrotated'in the counterclockwisedirection as viewed in" Fig.- 1 under the influence ofthe'tensionispring I5, which rotates the arms. I4. and lies wellas theattached shaft,I1 in a clockwise. direction-withdrawing the latches.2Iland128 from ,the "respective =cap elements 30 and 3| by.pullingeaupon'the respective rods I9 and 26; permitting the sway braceposts 34 and 35 to be drawn rectilinearly upward under the influence ofthe springs 31. As the retracting movement. is completed, the arm llmoves rearwardly, its articulated portion being broken by the coilspring I lb such that its main portion lies fiat against the wingundersurface and the pads are drawnupwardly out of the airstream into asubstantiallyflush relationship with the undersurface of the wing -inwhich they offer a minimum of resistance to the flight of the airplane.

While there has been shown and described a single bomb sway braceassembly of four (4) sway brace units, it will be understood that eachassembly may consist of a greater or lesser number of sway brace unitsdepending upon the size of the bomb or other load'ite'm which iscarried; and also that a single airplane'may beequipped with a pluralityof the assemblies which have been shown and may be located beneath thefuselage or other portions of the airplane, as well as under the wings.Other forms and modifications of the present invention, both withrespect to its general arrangement and the details of its respectiveparts, which may occur to those skilled in the art after reading thepresent description and drawings, are intended to come within the scopeand spirit of this invention as more particularly defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In an aircraft, means for releasably supporting a bomb from theaircraft, brace means movably supported upon the aircraft for engagementwith the bomb, resilient means urging the retraction of said bracemeans, means for latching said brace means against said resilient meansintheextendedpositionofsaidbracemeans,andactuating means operatively[connected to said brace means and said latch means arranged to engagesaid bomb and to cause unlatching of said latch means and retraction ofsaid brace means by said resilient means upon release of the bomb fromthe aircraft.

2. In an aircraft, a bomb rack for releasably supporting a bomb on theaircraft, brace means guided for rectilinear movement from the aircraftfor steadying engagement with the bomb, resilient means urgingdisengagement of said brace means, a latch for holding said brace meansagainst said resilient means, and mechanism operatively connected tosaid latch for said brace means arranged to engage said bomb in itssupported position and to initiate rectilinear retraction of said bracemeans by tripping said latch upon release of said bomb from theaircraft.

3. In an aircraft, means for releasably supporting a bomb from theaircraft, a sway brace rectilinearly supported upon the aircraft forengagement with the bomb, actuating arm means pivotall mounted upon theaircraft operatively connected to said sway brace, retracting meansconnected to said sway brace, and detent means operatively connected tosaid actuating arm means arranged to permit retraction of said swaybrace by said retracting means upon release of the bomb from theairplane structure.

4. In combination with an airplane structure, a bomb releasablysupported from said structure, brace means carried by said structurearranged to prevent swaying of said bomb, said brace means arranged forrectilinear movement from a retracted position within the airplanestructure to an extended position in the airstream in which :11:bra'c'es saidbomb against swaying; re-

sillent'means urging-disengagement of said'brace -means, alatch 'forholding said brace means against said resilient means, and automaticmeans engageable'with said bomb and connected to said latch'means forresiliently retracting said brace means upon release of said bomb'fromsaid structure.

- 5. In an ordnance installation for an aircraft wing, means forreleasably supporting a bomb therefrom, brace means extendable from saidwing for engagement with said bomb in its operative position, resilientmeans urging the retraction'of said brace means into said aircraft bysaid resilient means until said latch means is tripped assaidbomb isreleased from said aircraft wing.

6. In an ordnance installation for an aircraft.

means for releasably supporting a bomb from said aircraft, brace meanslongitudinally extendable from said aircraft for engagement with saidbomb in its operative position, resilient means urging the retraction ofsaid brace means into said aircraft, a detent for retaining said bracemeans in its extended operative position in which it engages said bomb,overriding means for maintaining said detent in its engaged position inwhich it maintains the extended position of said brace means, actuatingmeans pivotally mounted upon the aircraft in engagement with said bombin its supported position, and further resilient means connected to saidactuating means arranged to impart rotation to said actuating meansabout its pivotal mounting initiated by release of said bomb for theoperation of said overriding means, the disengagement of said detent andthe retraction of said brace means by said first resilient means.

7. In combination with an aircraft structure, a

bomb releasably supported from said structure,

-' brace means carried by said structure for engagement with said bomb,said brace means arranged for automatic movement from an extendedposition in the airstream in which it braces said bomb against swayingto a retracted position within the aircraft structure, actuating meansengaging said bomb in its supported position for retaining said bracemeans in its extended position, and automatic means operativelyconnected to said brace means and said actuating means arranged for theautomatic retraction of said brace means upon release of said bomb fromsaid structure.

8. In an automatically retractable bomb chock, v

mounting means for said chock including a guide portion and resilientmeans engaging said chock for drawing said chock into its retractedposition, latching means engaging said guide portion for holding saidchock in its operative position against the influence of said resilientmeans, and an actuating element operatively. associated with saidlatching means engageable with a bomb for, retaining said chock in itslatched operative position and arranged to trip said latch for theautomatic retraction of said chock through said guide portion by saidresilient means as said actuating element is released by the dropping ofthe bomb.

9. In an aircraft, mean for releasably supporting a bomb from theaircraft, a sway brace movably supported upon the aircraft forengagement with the bomb, resilient means urging said ease -e03 swaybrace into a retractedpositionciiiseneaged from the bomb, latch meansnormally retaining said sway brace in its extended bomb-engaged positionagainst the influence of said resilient means, and a spring-pressedelement -movab1y supported on the aircraft in engagement with said latchmeans deflectable by the bomb in the extended position of said swaybrace into a spring-pressed position in which said latch means maintainssaid sway brace in extended bombengaged position, said spring-pressedelement movable under the influence of said spring upon release of thebomb into an oppositely'defiected position in which said latch means istripped and said sway brace is retracted under the influence of saidresilient means.

10. A bomb sway brace retracting mechanism of the type set forth inclaim 9 characterized by the inclusion of a lost-motion meansoperatively interconnected between said latch means and'said 20-defiec'tabie rsprinigepressed eleiflent arfan'gedfito permit .th'eover-ridin'g movement 'of said lostmotion means beyond "a predeterihinedlatched position of said latchmahs as said "deflectable element may bemoved to various positions by engagement with bombs of different sizes.

"GUSTAVE J. RUPPERT.

REFERENCES CITED The fonowmgreferemes are of record in the file (if thispatent:

iifiiTED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,528, 942 Mose'r Mai. 10, 19252,010,511 Crawford Aug-Q6, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date3658;085 "Great Britain'; Mar. 3, 1932

